impulse

See also impulsé, and Impulse

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Latin impulsus.

For spelling, as in pulse, the -e (on -lse) is so the end is pronounced /ls/, rather than /lz/ as in pulls, and does not change the vowel (‘u’). Compare else, false, convulse.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

impulse (plural impulses)

1. A thrust; a push; a sudden force that impels.
2. A wish or urge, particularly a sudden one prompting action.

   The impulse to learn drove me to study night and day.

   When I saw the new dictionary, I couldn't resist the impulse to browse through it.

   • 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 20, The Dust of Conflict^[1]:

     Tony's face expressed relief, and Nettie sat silent for a moment until the vicar said “It was a generous impulse, but it may have been a momentary one, […] .”

3. (physics) The integral of force over time.

   The total impulse from the impact will depend on the kinetic energy of the bullet.

Derived terms

• impulse buy
• nerve impulse
• on impulse

Related terms

• impel
• impulsion
• impulsive
• impulsively
• impulsiveness
• impulsor
• pulse

Translations

sudden force that impels

• Basque: olde (eu)
• Catalan: impuls (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 衝動 (cmn), 冲动 (cmn) (chōngdòng), 意氣 (cmn), 意气 (cmn) (yìqì), 衝量 (cmn), 冲量 (cmn) (chōngliàng), 衝力 (cmn), 冲力 (cmn) (chōnglì)

• Finnish: impulssi (fi)
• French: impulsion (fr)
• German: Impuls (de) m, Triebkraft (de) f
• Greek: παρόρμηση (el) (parórmisi) f, ορμέμφυτο (el) (ormémfito) n
• Hungarian: impulzus (hu)
• Italian: impulso (it)
• Japanese: 衝動 (ja) (しょうどう, shōdō), 衝撃 (ja) (しょうげき, shōgeki), 推進力 (ja) (すいしんりょく, suishinryoku), インパルス (ja) (inparusu), 出来心 (ja) (できごころ, dekigokoro)

• Khmer: ពលវេគ (km) (pʊəl veikii)
• Persian: تکانه (fa)
• Polish: impuls (pl) m
• Portuguese: impulso (pt) m
• Romanian: impuls (ro) n
• Russian: импульс (ru) (ímpul's) m, порыв (ru) (porýv) m, побуждение (ru) (pobuždénije) n, толчок (ru) (tolčók) m
• Spanish: impulso (es) m
• Swedish: impuls (sv), ingivelse (sv)

wish

• Catalan: antull (ca) m, capritx (ca) m, caprici (ca) m

• Spanish: capricho (es) m

(physics) integral force over time

• Catalan: impuls (ca) m, impulsió (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 衝量 (cmn), 冲量 (cmn) (chōngliàng), 衝力 (cmn), 冲力 (cmn) (chōnglì)

• Czech: impuls síly (cs) m
• German: Impuls (de) m

• Irish: spreagadh (ga) m
• Japanese: 衝撃 (ja) (しょうげき, shōgeki), 推進力 (ja) (すいしんりょく, suishinryoku)
• Russian: импульс (ru) (ímpul's) m, толчок (ru) (tolčók) m
• Spanish: impulso (es) m
• Swedish: impuls (sv) c

References

• impulse in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• impulse in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Verb

impulse (third-person singular simple present impulses, present participle impulsing, simple past and past participle impulsed)

1. (obsolete) To impel; to incite.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Alexander Pope to this entry?)

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French

Pronunciation

• Homophones: impulsent, impulses

Verb

impulse

1. first-person singular present indicative of impulser
2. third-person singular present indicative of impulser
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of impulser
4. first-person singular present subjunctive of impulser
5. second-person singular imperative of impulser

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Italian

Verb

impulse

1. third-person singular past historic of impellere

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Latin

Participle

impulse

1. vocative masculine singular of impulsus

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Spanish

Verb

impulse (infinitive impulsar)

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of impulsar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of impulsar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of impulsar.